Shares of Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. dropped to an all-time low of 49 cents last week as the Gardena-based electric vehicle maker continued to reshuffle its leadership ranks. The latest to leave was Rebecca Roof, who resigned from her post as interim chief financial officer six months into her appointment.
“Under her leadership, Faraday Future became current with our financial statements and filed our amended registration statements,” Chief Executive Carsten Breitfeld said in a statement. “She strengthened our financial team and controls and successfully negotiated three critical fundraising agreements that have strengthened our financial position and put in place a framework for potential additional financing.”
While it appears unrelated, Roof’s departure follows Oct. 3 exits by board members Scott Vogel, Jordan Vogel and Susan Swenson.
Jordan Vogel served as co-chief executive of Property Solutions Acquisition Corp., a blank-check company Faraday Future merged with in July to get listed on the Nasdaq and raise nearly $1 billion in gross cash proceeds. Swenson, who was the nine-member board’s executive chairperson and whose public board experience includes stints with Harmonic Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co., was replaced by interim chairman Xin (Adam) He.
There were also calls to remove former Nevada Treasurer Brian Krolicki from the board, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He sat on Faraday Future’s advisory board from June 2019 to April 2020 and has been a director since May 2020.
The restructuring was part of a “comprehensive resolution” to a governance dispute with a major Faraday Future shareholder, FF Top Holding, and the “execution of definitive agreements for new financing,” the company said in September. The move also halted a lawsuit FF Top filed with the Delaware Court of Chancery in September, seeking board member removals. FF Top, whose stake in Faraday Future is about 20%, with 36% of voting rights, also nominated Li Han as Swenson’s permanent replacement.
The former board members received “threats of physical violence and death threats” as well as emails from individuals who identified themselves as “employee whistleblowers” and “current investors,” alleging that “certain directors have conspired to push the company into bankruptcy for their own personal gain,” according to documents filed with SEC. While an independent investigation found that corruption allegations have been without merit, the former board members cited “fear that their continued association with the company might heighten the risk to themselves and their respective families as the reasons for their resignation.”
While the boardroom drama contributed to stock price demise – the shares traded at about $7.80 in July – another likely culprit is a delay of the start of production on the company’s FF 91 vehicle until the fourth quarter. The company cited supply chain issues and a need to raise additional capital to fund its operations through the end of the year.
